Learn from your Mistakes
by iisAnonymousperson
Summary: Percy is fighting Gaia's army when he realizes they're not going to win. He finds it ironic that the end of the world would be Independence Day. Although, perhaps that's what Gaia wanted. The bright flash and the voices in his head don't make the top of his weirdness list - though, the time travel is pretty far up there. Percy never though he'd get a second chance, yet here he is.
1. Chapter 1

Percy was quickly losing hope. Leo's plan didn't seem to work.

Pipers charmspeak only served to put Jason to sleep, not Gaia. Fortunately, she managed to wake him up before they hit the ground.

Greeks and Romans, left and right were falling at the hands of Octavian's troops. Percy laughed at the irony. Him and Annabeth had fallen down there on the first day of June and, coincidentally, Jason's birthday. They had been down there for three weeks, although it didn't feel like it. When they emerged, on June 22nd, they were immediately thrown into war planning. Nico had volunteered to drag the Athena Parthenos to Half-Blood Hill, Reyna and Hedge in tow. Annabeth, Piper and Jason almost successfully infiltrated a party, leaving with the information they needed, and a little more. Eventually, they fought the Giants, but Gaia managed to wake up. That was around dusk of July 3rd. Now, dawn was approaching. The world's going to end on the fourth of July. Percy realized that he'd never get to celebrate his seventeenth birthday.

 _Looks like the first prophecy was right, sixteen, save or destroy…_ he mused as he cut down another Laistrygonian. The thought that the first Great Prophecy was still in play freaked Percy out, especially because he had just been sliced open by a poisoned scimitar. _Would that count as a cursed blade?_

Right before the claws of a hellhound took off his head, Percy felt a warmth engulf him, and his vision turned white. The light faded and Percy saw what shouldn't be possible.

There was him on the shield at Camp Jupiter.

Then Alaska and after that, training with Lupa.

Then that last kiss with Annabeth.

There was Luke stabbing himself.

Next thing he saw the battle, then the fall of the Labyrinth.

He watched his life fly by until he got to Yancy. Percy heard a voice say, _You have sent back to change things. You are not powerful enough to destroy Gaia; you need to fix this._ Then Percy was flying back again, until it was a few days before Thalia, Annabeth, and Luke arrived at camp. _We cannot just bring you, however, so the monsters will be coming back as well. Be prepared. You have the blessing of Time and Fate – Kronos had lost his domains and the one credited for killing him absorbed them – you. The gods who faded at Gaia's hands have also been sent back. This information may be vital. You may also do whatever is necessary to alter the fate of the world. You will be dropped off outside of camp borders._

The voice – the fates, he assumed – weren't kidding. Percy was dropped off surrounded by monsters. The horn sounded, but by the time campers showed up, Percy had it under control. He ducked under the swipe of a sword that would've taken his head off. His sword ran through an empousa and spun around to get the head of a telkhine. On instinct, Percy stabbed backwards, getting a dracaena. He sent a wave of water to his right. Normally, this is where Jason or Thalia would electrocute the monsters, but Percy didn't have them. He'd have to do it himself. Calling upon his storm-bringer powers, Percy electrocuted the wet monsters; the monsters' numbers were cut in half. Seconds later, a pack of hellhounds jumped him. He swept through one right into the other. A third scratched at Percy's arm – the poisoned one. His side exploded in pain. Percy fell to his knees, his breathing labored. Another took the chance to stab him in the back. Percy rolled out of the way, only gaining a shallow gash on his side. He stood slowly, still breathing hard. His glare stopped any monster from attacking. And then, before they knew what was happening, Percy summoned a storm, blowing down the remaining monsters. The larger ones managed to get back up. A particularly humongous hellhound swiped at Percy's side, only to have its paw cut off. Another set of slashes and whirls cut apart four monsters. By that point, there were only small monsters left. Percy quickly took care of them though. He started up the hill.

Only to find the entirety of camp staring at him slack jawed. "Um… Hi?" Percy said.

Chiron took control of the situation quickly. "Okay everyone. Go back to your cabins. We will interrogate this newcomer tomorrow." All the campers headed towards their cabins, shooting suspicious glances at Percy.

"Come, child," Chiron said. "You must be tired, and you are injured. You can stay in the big house for tonight."

Percy sighed. "Thanks."

Chiron smiled, looking ahead. "You know, not many demigods make it to – how old are you? Sixteen, seventeen? Not out there, on their own."

"I'll be seventeen in August." Percy said, trying not to give too much away. "And I know. I've lost several people."

"I'm sorry, my boy."

Percy waved him off. "Not your fault. And I don't want any pity."

"I see. Many demigods feel the same. Do you happen to know why there were so many monsters?" Chiron changed the subject.

"No, not really." Percy answered in a sort of dull fashion.

"Perhaps… Never mind. Here is your room my boy. We will figure out what to do with you later."

The next day, Percy woke up to find Annabeth hovering over him. "Annabeth! You're here!"

"Hi, Champion." Annabeth said with a sly smirk.

Percy caught on. "Code names. I like it; what's yours?"

"The fates are allowing couples to choose for each other."

Percy thought for a minute. Wisdom was too obvious. Despite what people think, he wasn't stupid – his dyslexia and ADHD make him seem that way sometimes, but he wasn't. Annabeth chose "Champion" for him, probably because of the whole "champion of time and fate" thing. So what was an important part of Annabeth that wouldn't be too in your face?

"What about Daedalus? You do have his technology and abilities. And it wouldn't give away your identity." Percy eventually suggested.

Annabeth smiled. "I guess you aren't so stupid after all!"

After a short laugh, they walked out to find Chiron about to knock. "Oh! Hello. Who is your friend?" He asked. Percy smiled.

"Hi," Annabeth introduced herself, "I'm Daedalus."

Chiron's eyebrow raised. "Daedalus huh?"

Annabeth laughed. "My dad had an… interesting sense of humor. He was a history fanatic."

Chiron gave a sort of quirked smirk. "And you, my boy? I never caught your name." He said, turning to Percy.

Percy's mind raced. What if Chiron asked about his name? in the span of only a second, Percy had created an eligible backstory. "My name is Champion."

Chiron looked surprised but didn't ask. Percy and Annabeth were given tours of the camp, despite knowing where everything was. For a few days, everything was quiet. Percy and Annabeth were glad for the down time. But that ended on the evening of the third day. They woke up that morning, knowing – a gut feeling.

By dusk, the two were jumping at every little noise. When the campers asked them about it, they just responded with something along the lines of "Demigod dreams" and they were left alone. Then, at Annabeth's signal, they headed towards the hill. They didn't wait there long, just five minutes later, the trio showed with an army of monsters. "Go!" Thalia shouted. "I'll hold them off!" Luke picked younger Annabeth up and ran up the hill.

Percy and Annabeth – although with younger Annabeth, they should probably start to refer to themselves by their codenames – rush down to help. "Hey Champion! Hey Daedalus! Finally here to help?" Thalia called.

Champion smiled to himself, realizing that the Fates must have told her their codenames. What he couldn't figure out was why she was in her own, younger self, rather than being a whole new person like him and Daedalus. In a whirl of slashes and ducks, stabs and deflections, the fight was over. Daedalus sighed. "As awesome as it is that you're alive, Thalia, what are we going to do about the borders?"

Thalia smiled a smile not dissimilar to the one that Daedalus gave Champion. "I have a fix for that." She pulled a young pine tree out of a bag. "This is my tree, de-aged. I simply need to plant it and add a little spirit."

Along the way to the top of the hill, Thalia explained her predicament. The Fates sent her back to her actual body because the tree needed a little spirit. Thalia, being in a body with two spirits, would be able to provide a little bit of both younger her and older her spirits. Neither would die. They'd become one person over time, which could be good or bad. Then they were at the top of the hill, where Thalia used Annabeth's knife to dig a hole for her tree. Once planted, she cupped her hands over it and they began to glow. A few murmured words were said, and the tree grew until it was the big white house tree once again.

"Thalia?" Annabeth – the little one – asked.

Luke was there too. "What the? Huh? Thalia, what was that? Who are these two?"

Thalia smiled. "It's hard to explain, Luke. I'll tell you along with the rest of camp."

It was weird. Champion was used to Luke being five or so years older than him, not three years younger. And twelve-year-old Thalia was a little awkward.

By the time they got to the dining pavilion, where everyone was eating dinner, Champion had decided to just go with it, despite the weirdness. Everyone was staring at the three newcomers. "Champion, Daedalus, who are these three?" Chiron asked.

Champion was surprised, and he noticed Daedalus was too. "You mean no one saw the monster army chasing them?"

Chiron looked alarmed. "No. What happened?"

While Thalia explained to Chiron what happened, Champion wandered around. It was during the end of Thalia's tale that Champion had an idea. "I'll be back," He whispered in Daedalus' ear, before he disappeared.

The trek to his old home took a few hours, and by the time he got there, it was night. He considered waiting for the next day but realized that Gabe was more likely to be drunk at night.

Champion's face paled when he arrived at the door. Sally wasn't home, he'd already figured that out. There was a dent in the door. Champion remembered that day. He'd dodged Gabe's fist, and Gabe punched the door instead. It ended with him getting more beatings than normal.

Opening the door, he saw something that disgusted him. There was Gabe, in all his glory, He wasn't quite as fat as he was when Champion was twelve, but he was just as nasty. Gabe was looming over a small, shivering form. Percy. "Hey asshole!" Champion shouted. Gabe's head snapped up. "How'd you get in here?" Gabe asked, his words slightly slurred. Champion smiled. "Why does it matter? After all, you are beating my little brother."

Gabe's eyes narrowed. "This little shit doesn't have any siblings." Champion grinned a feral grin that put a bit of fear into Gabe's heart. "That you know of." Creating a ball of ice, Champion said, "If you don't back off him, I will fire. This little ball of ice can rip through flesh and tissue and bone." Gabe didn't appear to believe Champion. He shrugged. "I warned you." And then he fired. The ball went through Gabe's arm. He screamed. Champion ran over to Percy. "Hey little bro, I gotcha." Percy shivering, scared out of his mind. Champion picked him up and Percy latched onto his shirt. "Hey, Percy, it's okay to cry. Your mom isn't here, if that's what your worried about." Champion held Percy as he cried. "Wh-what did you mean by l-little broth-er?" Percy asked, hiccupping.

Champion smiled. "C'mon Percy. Look at me." Percy looked up and gasped. "You mean, you're my actual brother?" Champion smiled. "Yeah."

Gabe chose that moment to come back to consciousness, groaning. "C'mon, Percy," Champion whispered. "Let's get this guy to the hospital. Can you get me the keys?" Champion tied a noose around Gabe's arm to stop the bleeding. He was getting Gabe into the backseat of the car when Percy came back with the keys. Percy wrinkled his nose. "Where am I going to sit?" Champion smiled at Percy. "If you promise not to distract me and to sit in a kiddie seat, I'll let you be in the front."

Percy's face lit up. "Really?" A few minutes later, they were driving to the hospital, Percy in the front, playing on Champions phone. He really only got so he could stay in contact with the rest of the Seven if they separated again, but it seemed to be useful in keeping Percy distracted. "Champion?" Percy asked. "Hmm?" Champion responded, distracted. "How did you know my name?"

"When I heard that dad got a new girlfriend, I was curious. I've watching you, trying to keep you safe. I promised to never directly interfere, but Gabe went too far tonight, so I fixed that and broke my promise at the same time. I'm sorry I didn't interfere earlier, but I wanted you to be strong enough to stand up for yourself."

Percy seemed satisfied with that answer. Half an hour later, they arrived at the hospital. Gabe, while conscious, was out of it. Percy had fallen asleep, Champions phone still in his lap. "Percy. Percy wake up. You can go back to sleep once we're in the hospital." Percy woke up as Champion shook him. "I'm tired."

Champion smiled. "I know buddy. But you need to hold the door so I can get Gabe in."

The doctors had a fit when they saw Gabe, then they praised Champion on his first aid skills. When asked, Champion would say, "I learned basic first aid at the summer camp I work at."

The front desk lady just handed Champion a stack of papers. It took maybe another half-hour to fill out the paper work, due to dyslexia. Percy had fallen asleep again, curled up in the chair next to Champion. When Champion got back from handing the lady the filled out paperwork, he picked Percy up and plopped him on his lap. It was then that Champion realized that Sally would be home and worrying about her little boy.

"May I borrow your phone?" He asked the front desk lady. She agreed and a minute later Sally was picking up the phone.

 _Hello?_

"Hi, Sally. If you were wondering, your son is the hospital."

 _What?!_

"Relax. He's fine. Your husband managed to stab himself, and I couldn't exactly leave Percy there alone, could I?"

 _I suppose not. I'll be there in forty-five minutes_.

"See you then."

Percy woke up, blearily. "Wha? Who were you talking to?"

"Shh Percy. Your mother was worried. She's coming. I'll wake you up when she gets here."

Percy nodded and went back to sleep.

Forty-five minutes later, Sally showed up. She immediately honed in onto Champion. "Oh my gods."

Champion chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I've been told I look ridiculously like my father. No, I'm kidding. But yeah, I am who you think I am."

Sally's eyes filled with tears. "Oh no don't cry!" Champion panicked a little. Why is she crying? Sally leapt forward, pulling Champion into a hug and squishing Percy, who made a squawking sort of sound. "You just look so much like him."

Oh. She missed Poseidon. "Mom. You're squishing me." Percy mumbled. Sally laughed a little. "I'm sorry Percy. But he looks so much like your dad."

Sally picked Percy up, and sat down next to Champion.

"So what's your name?" She asked. "My name is Champion." Sally looked surprised. "Everybody has that reaction… oh well."

"So, is Gabe okay?" Sally asked.

"Yeah," Champion answered. "They said they'd have him all stitched up after an hour and a half or two hours. So far, it's been an hour fifteen."

Another half-hour and Gabe was released. "I'd like to talk to you, Sally, in private sometime."

"Perhaps tomorrow, while Percy is at school and Gabe is at work."

Champion nodded. "Tomorrow."

"Do you want to stay the night?" Sally offered, getting in the car. Champion shook his head. "Nah. I'll see you tomorrow, 11?"

"Great."


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Champion got to camp, it was nearly midnight. Daedalus was there, looking angry. "Where have you been!? You left hours ago!"

"Sorry. I went to go check up on little me, and well, I found out that it was um, well, I remember it as the worst night of my life. So… I changed that, sent Gabe to the hospital, and spoke to mo- Sally."

Daedalus raised an eyebrow, "Anything else?"

"I'm going back tomorrow."

"I'm going with you." She decided.

They left at nine the next day.

Around eleven, they arrived at the apartment. Daedalus knocked on the door. Champion was a little nervous. He knew Sally would ask about what happened to Gabe. And he was right. After a little small-talk Sally asked, "So what exactly happened last night?"

A quick glance at Daedalus revealed nothing. Champion sighed. "My ice balls, when fired with enough force, can rip through anything. I warned Gabe that if he didn't back off of Percy I'd fire it. He didn't. I fired. Don't look at me like that! He was going to try kill Percy. I mean, he wouldn't've been able to, but that's pretty traumatic."

Sally was looking at Champion incredulously. "You put a hole in my husband."

"No offense, but your husband is a jackass."

"Champion, that is very offensive."

"Shut up."

"No! You can't just say stuff like that."

"I know that, but it needed to be said!"

Daedalus tugged at her hair. "Percy!" For some reason she couldn't fathom, Champion had a smug look on his face.

"What?!"

Oh. She had forgotten about Sally.

"You planned that!"

"Yes I did."

"Planned what? Somebody tell me!" Sally demanded, her mom face in full effect. "Umm…" Daedalus hesitated, but Champion didn't. "We're time-travelers."

"Uh-huh. And why?" Sally was faint. That may have been because she put the pieces together.

Daedalus sighed. "You may want to sit down."

Once Sally was comfortable, Champion started on his story. "So, this is going to get complicated. Please hold all questions until the end."

At Sally's nod, the story began.

"How do I start… Well, how much do you know?" Champion asked.

Sally looked like she didn't want to answer. Daedalus couldn't blame her.

"Well, I know you are a son of Poseidon. I know you are from the future. I know the prophecy says that major events when a son of Poseidon, Zeus or Hades reaches sixteen. I know you are about sixteen or seventeen years old. I know that your friend called you Percy, like it's your name. And I know that my son, whose name is Percy, is a son of Poseidon. So from that, I can infer that you are my son from ten years in the future where the prophecy has spawned some great world-destroying power and Fate has been twisted, so you have been sent to fix it." Sally said carefully.

Champion nodded like he wasn't surprised. Daedalus wasn't either. "That is pretty much it. The prophecy is predicting a great battle, and we know that great battles take place in wars… So the prophecy was the Second Titan War." He explained. "A few minutes after the war was won, a mortal friend of mine, her name's Rachel, became the Oracle and gave a prophecy. That led to the gods closing the gates to Olympus, and then Hera grew fed up with waiting for death, so she took me from Camp Half-Blood, took my memories and put me in what we jokingly call cryo-sleep… That was Leo, who is a science fiction freak son of Hephaestus. Then this kid, Jason, he's like, what fifteen?"

"He celebrated number sixteen the day we fell into Tartarus." Daedalus said.

Sally's face was pale enough for Daedalus to wonder how she was still conscious. "Tartarus?" Her voice was airy.

"Later."

"So fifteen then. He was sent to camp without memories. They went on a quest. Jason, Leo, and Piper, I mean. Saved Hera from her prison – Gaea kidnapped her to gain enough power to raise Porphyrion. He's the giant bane of Zeus. You know the stories. So after that, Jason got his memories back and told camp that there was another camp in San Francisco for the Romans. Now, the Greeks and Romans have never got along – the Civil War was between the Greeks and Romans, did you know? – so this was gamble. But the prophecy said "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death" so he decided to risk it.

"We good so far?" Sally nodded. "So you obviously survived the Great Prophecy, but then was thrown into another. Whoop-de-doo. I need a moment."

Sally got up and made some tea and granola bars for everyone. They sat in silence for a few minutes, letting Sally digest everything. Finally, Champion picked up where Daedalus left off.

"About five months after that, I woke up in "The Wolf House". The goddess Lupa trained me for two months. Then I made my way to Camp Jupiter – the Roman camp. From there, I entered the Legion, and then Mars – Ares – gave us a quest. He said that we had to unchain death. I had to be on it. Hazel, a daughter of Pluto and Frank, Mar's son, went with me. Frank led it. That was fun. We had a run in with Phineas, the seer, met a Sibylline-Book harpy, then got to the Amazon headquarters, who promised us help if their leadership hadn't changed by then. We freed the world's fastest horse who took us to Canada, where we met Franks grandmother, then to Alaska, where I fought some shades and Frank unchained Thanatos. Then Frank and Hazel fought Alcyoneus, while I finished off the army. And we found the missing legions supplies. We got back to Camp Jupiter in time to fight an army. I fought Polybotes, then was elected Praetor. The day after that, the giant flying warship appeared.

"We still good?"

Sally let out a high pitched noise. "The only reason I haven't passed out is because you're right here in front of me."

They took a half-hour break to let Sally calm down. She cooked some cookie dough that she had prepared, and when they started up again, seemed to have calmed down a lot.

Daedalus picked back up. "While all that was going on, Camp Half-Blood was preparing for war. And building a way to get to the other camp. We arrived there a few days after Percy was elected Praetor. Then we made our way to Greece, with Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank and Hazel. There were a few mishaps, some run-ins, the usual. When we got to Greece, though, I had to go off on my own quest. My mother had given me the task of retrieving the Athena Parthenos, and I found it. I had to convince Arachne to weave her own trap, which I managed, then the group broke in. They put the Parthenos in the stables, which was the only place it would fit. But Arachne fell into Tartarus, dragging me with her. Percy tried to pull me back, to stop me, but he got pulled in too."

Champion swallowed. "We spent roughly three weeks there, and with help from Bob the friendly titan and Damasen the friendly giant, we got out. Then the war began. We fought for another week, until on the morning of the fourth of July, we got sent here."

Sally nodded. "I… I understand. Don't like it. But I understand – er, what did you tell Percy when you guys met last night?"

Champion smiled. "I told him we were brothers, and that I never interfered because I wanted him to be strong enough to defend himself."

"What about the gods?" Sally asked, "Poseidon, at least, will want to know where you came from, and I know Zeus and Hades will be angry that he supposedly broke the pact twice."

Daedalus smirked. "Well, they will either never know, or are spying on this conversation right now.

"And I'm thinking the first option is very unlikely."

 _ **So to my non-American readers, the whole fourth of July ironic-ness may be lost on you. If you didn't already know, The Fourth of July is America's independence day. Percy is a born and raised American, so it just - it rains ironic for him.**_


	3. Info

So you're probably excited about the update. This isn't it. I have been agonizing over this story and come to the conclusion that the reason I am having so much trouble writing is because I don't know what to do. On the stories where this notice isn't posted, I have a path and end goal, and I am doing much better on those, so I am going to do the same for this. For the time being, this story is on hiatus until I can hast out a definitive path to take with this story.


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